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Cheese from France, Haut-Doubs

Mont d'Or / Vacherin du Haut-Doubs PDOMont d'Or

Raw whole milk from Montbéliarde and Simmental cows, heated at most once and to no more than 40 °C, is set with calf rennet between 15 August and 15 March. Each soft cheese is girded with a strip of spruce bark, brined, and ripened on spruce boards at no more than 15 °C and at least 90 % humidity, rubbed with salted water. After the 12th day it finishes in a spruce box and leaves the cellar from the 21st day.

Fully documentedCheese33 daysPDO (EU), registered by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 of 12 June 1996; AOC recognised in 1981; specification of 18 December 2025Family: Washed-rind (smear-ripened) cheese family (Munster and Époisses as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification sets conditions, not doses. Average weight per lot, box included, is 480 g to 3.2 kg.
Raw whole cow milk, heated at most once and to no more than 40 °CNothing added or removed except the listed ingredients[montdor-cdc]
Calf rennet[montdor-cdc]
Selected lactic and ripening culturesLiquid starters at most 3 % of the milk volume when grown on reconstituted milk[montdor-cdc]
Water and salt, for washing the curd (up to 10 %), brine and rubbing[montdor-cdc]
Spruce bark strap, 28–35 mm wide, heated to at least 90 °C for 30 minutes before use[montdor-cdc]
Starterselected lactic cultures and ripening flora

Total time across the recorded steps: 33 days

Start
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up to 40 °C

What changes: Calf rennet sets the raw whole milk, warmed no higher than 40 °C

Step 1 of 6
Set the raw milk with calf rennet
Time
Not documented
Temperature
up to 40 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Made only from 15 August to 15 March. Milk chilled to 2–9 °C is renneted by 4 pm the next day (morning milk) or 4 am (evening milk); water may be added up to 10 % of the vat volume.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Raw whole milk from Montbéliarde and Simmental cows, heated at most once and to no more than 40 °C, is set with calf rennet between 15 August and 15 March. Each soft cheese is girded with a strip of spruce bark, brined, and ripened on spruce boards at no more than 15 °C and at least 90 % humidity, rubbed with salted water. After the 12th day it finishes in a spruce box and leaves the cellar from the 21st day. Made in 6 steps over 33 days. The longest step, finish in the spruce box, takes at least 21 days (Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine…) and runs at 2–8 °C (Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine…).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 21 daysSet[montdor-cdc]Finish in the spruce box
Temperature2–8 °CSet[montdor-cdc]Finish in the spruce box

What makes this one different

A seasonal winter cheese strapped in spruce bark and finished in a spruce box, so the wood is part of its make and flavour.

Season
Made 15 August to 15 March; sold only 10 September to 10 May
Ripening
Leaves the cellar from the 21st day after renneting
Composition
At least 45 g fat per 100 g dry matter; moisture in the fat-free cheese at most 75 %

Related ferments

Safety

Mont d'Or is a raw-milk cheese, and the milk is heated only once, to no more than 40 °C, so it is not pasteurised. ANSES names Salmonella, enterohaemorrhagic E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes among the risks of raw-milk cheeses, and ranks soft washed-rind cheeses next after the main sources. It advises pregnant women, people with weak immunity, people over 65 and young children to avoid raw-milk cheeses other than cooked pressed ones such as Gruyère or Comté, and says that cutting off the rind is not enough. The specification heats the spruce strap to at least 90 °C for 30 minutes before use.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Abbeys at Saint-Claude and Montbenoît opened the Jura high plateaux to pasture from the 12th century; this seasonal cheese has been made in local dairies since the 19th century and won its appellation in 1981.

  1. [montdor-cdc] Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine 'Mont d'Or' ou 'Vacherin du Haut-Doubs', homologué par arrêté du 18 décembre 2025, JORF du 9 janvier 2026, Bulletin officiel du Ministère de l'Agriculture n° 2026-03spec
  2. [montdor-eu1996] Application for registration, 'Mont d'Or or Vacherin du Haut-Doubs', Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92 (EU register summary sheet, English)spec
  3. [reg1107-1996] Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 of 12 June 1996 on the registration of geographical indications and designations of origin under the procedure laid down in Article 17 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92, Official Journal L 148, 21.6.1996, pp. 1–10 (Annex lists 'Mont d'or ou vacherin du Haut-Doubs' as a PDO)spec
  4. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov